TheChat: So why has Gov. Jay Nixon been overriden so often?

▪ “The governor happens to be a governor during a time when Republicans are at the biggest majority we've ever been.” — Missouri Republican House Majority Leader Mike Cierpiot of Lee’s Summit on why Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has been overridden more times than any governor in state history.

The count going into today’s session is 83 overrides during Nixon’s eight sessions as governor. That’s nearly four times the combined total of all other governors' overrides dating back to Missouri's territorial days in the early 1800s, the Associated Press found. (link courtesy of johncombest.com).

▪ “I don’t want to make any ethical mistakes the last 120 days I’m in office, so I’ll begin making decisions later on about what I’m going to do.” — Nixon talking about his future plans after he leaves the governor’s office in January.

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Nixon, 60, insisted he still doesn’t have any “gainful employment” yet and hinted that he may wind up working in the law. He didn’t rule out a position in a Hillary Clinton administration and also said he has bought a house in University City near St. Louis.

▪ “It is time for a moral revolution of values that challenge the narrow constructs of those who purport to be the representatives of the so-called Religious Right!” — the Rev. Rodney Williams of Kansas City at a Missouri Statehouse demonstration in which protestors demanded a $15-an-hour minimum wage and other reforms to help the poor.

The prospects for a raise in the minimum wage in Missouri remain slim, given the overwhelming GOP majorities in the House and Senate.

▪ “I’m not optimistic it will be paid back within the coming year or by that time frame.” — Kansas state Rep. Steven Johnson, an Assaria Republican, on the possibility that lawmakers will delay a $100 million payment to the state retirement system.

Lawmakers agreed to delay the payment this spring because of difficulties balancing the budget. Now, the prospect of delaying the payment a second time appears to be in the offing.

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